J.P. Arencibia can smile as the Jays begin training camp. His patience will be tried as he learns to catch R.A. Dickey's knuckleball. (AP Photo)

It will be Arencibia's job to catch Dickey. The challenge of catching a knuckleball 100-plus times a game should not be underestimated, either. Imagine a baseball with no spin coming at you at 80-plus mph and you have no idea where it is going to break until it actually breaks.

"Tough pitch," Arencibia says.

Arencibia, however, appears to have caught a break, so to speak. Like Dickey, Arencibia played collegiately at Tennessee and now spends his offseasons in Nashville. Though the two had not met, Arencibia put in a call to his new teammate soon after Dickey was acquired from the New York Mets in December. As a result, they played catch on a regular basis in the weeks leading up to spring training.

Arencibia at least knows what he will be facing every five days this season.

"The biggest thing is learning to put your pride aside," Arencibia says. "Going in you have to know you're not going to catch every ball."

In his knuckleball education, Arencibia also caught another break. When Dickey leaves Blue Jays camp to pitch for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, Arencibia also will be going. He is one of Team USA's catchers and though he hasn't been told his role, he hopes to be paired with Dickey.

Just in case Arencibia struggles catching the knuckleball, the Jays brought in plenty of insurance by signing Henry Blanco and acquiring Josh Thole in the Dickey deal. Both caught Dickey plenty when he was with the Mets.

Though Thole has the bigger contract (two years, $2.25 million to one year and $750,000), don't be surprised if he ends up in the minors and Blanco in Toronto. That is, if catching Dickey is the determining factor.

"There's been one guy, really, who from the very beginning has never struggled with (catching) it and that's Henry Blanco," Dickey says. "He may miss one or two, but that guy is really good."

Although Dickey likes the improvement he has seen in Arencibia, the knuckleballer also cautions that catching the knuckler in a gym in January isn't the same as catching it in a big-league game.

"It's pretty different," Dickey said. "I'm kind of working into it now. It will be a week or two before I feel like I'm going good."

Arencibia says he isn't worried.

"I feel good catching him now," he said Wednesday morning before Blue Jays pitchers and catchers held their first official spring training workout. "It's been a good transition from when I first caught him."